Macaulay Culkin said the late John Candy saw early on that Culkin's father was a "monster," remarks the actor made in Colin Hanks' new documentary about Candy that premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.
Culkin, 45, who rose to fame with films including Home Alone and Uncle Buck, recalled Candy quickly becoming a paternal presence on the Uncle Buck set as his own home life grew more fraught. "I think he always had that really great instinct. I think he saw. Listen, even before the wave crested and the Home Alone stuff was happening, it was not hard to see how difficult my father was. It was no secret. He was already a monster," Culkin says in the film. "All of a sudden, the fame and the money came, and he became an infamous monster. He was already not a good guy."
The comments appear in John Candy: I Like Me, directed by Colin Hanks, which examines Candy's career and personal life. Candy, who died of a heart attack in 1994 at age 43, co-starred with Culkin in the 1989 film Uncle Buck. Culkin described Candy as watching out for him during a period when he later says he suffered physical and emotional abuse from his father, Kit Culkin. Culkin would later become estranged from his father and publicly accuse him of abusive behavior.
Uncle Buck marked one of Culkin's earliest major acting experiences; Home Alone, released the following year, propelled him to wider international stardom. In the documentary, Culkin's recollections situate Candy's on-set warmth against the young actor's difficult family circumstances, portraying Candy as someone who recognized trouble at home even before Culkin's fame intensified public attention on his family life.
Hanks' film assembles archival footage and interviews to chart Candy's life as a comic actor and his relationships off-screen. The documentary's premiere at TIFF brought renewed attention to Candy's professional legacy and to personal recollections from colleagues and friends who describe him as generous and observant. Culkin's remarks underline the role some co-workers played in shielding child actors on set and illuminate the private struggles that can accompany early success.
Candy's death at 43 cut short a career that included both broad comedy and dramatic turns. The documentary aims to present a fuller picture of the actor, juxtaposing public achievement with private vulnerabilities and the impressions left on those who worked with him. Culkin's contribution to the film is one of several firsthand accounts that offer context for Candy's impact and the environments in which he and others worked.
John Candy: I Like Me continues to circulate on the festival circuit following its TIFF debut, and it has prompted renewed discussion about workplace dynamics in child stardom eras and the personal histories of performers who achieved fame in the 1980s and early 1990s.